03 February, 2012

I took this rack photo at the 2007 Cirque de Cyclisme and just came across it while looking for something else. It's on a French constructeur demountable frame. This thing has to be super sturdy, and super expensive to make. I can't help but wonder if it isn't overkill; that's a lot of tubes. The removable mini platform on top is cute. Anyway, such a cool design that I thought you'd like to see it. Wadda ya think?

24 comments:

I think it's a great design! Carrying cargo on that little top platform might be useful for bulky items but with the weight so high up I would be worried about it affecting my bikes handling. Also, I would have had the horizontal stays come straight off the cantilever braze-ons

Longtail cargo biker here, not sure how that load so far back will affect the handling in general. The rule of thumb is to get the heavy stuff in front of the rear axle, as much as possible, otherwise you can get some wonky oscillations. And the further back, the worse the bad effects.

Stunning. The most important aspect of this rack, and similiar others, is the rear "wrap around" design. It provides a significant measure of strength and is very appealing the the eye. The top mini rack would serve its purpose since the load there would be minimal. Similiar to the AleX Singer Camper. A marriage of form and function that matters when you're "miles from nowhere". Who wouldn't want one?

Overbuilt! I really can't see the purpose of the rack connecting not once but twice behind the back fender. I'm sure it's super solid, but to what end? In what way will this help? And in the meantime, it's adding unnecessary weight and cost to the bike.

It's nice, but I would rather see a front rack with detaching capabilities - something that turns from a handlebar rack into a ow-rider. This reminds me of a custom rack I saw from MAP Bicycles a few years ago.

Something similar on my Pitard here: http://vintagebicycle.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/l-pitard-campeur-bicycle-c-1948/ I think the Pitard design is more practical. The rear part removes quite easily being held by 2 nuts and forked into the dropouts. Also the smaller rack is much more substantially supported.